


We Were Born of Nightmares

by Nathaniabp



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Genre: Gen, Linked Universe, LinkedUniverse, The draft was called "Bad Times in Koholint" lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 04:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18380765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nathaniabp/pseuds/Nathaniabp
Summary: The group marched on in silence after that, with Legend taking the lead. He didn't tell the others why the island got such a strong reaction out of him, didn't even say anything about this place they landed in. But they weren't going to pry.They all have their own demons, after all. Maybe Legend's take the shape of an egg sitting on a mountaintop.





	We Were Born of Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> Based off a rather old idea that the Links travel through portals to get to other worlds, which is liable for illusory shenanigans. This was pretty much debunked by recent LinkedUniverse updates, but I liked the idea enough not to scrap this entirely.  
> ...Can't say I really like the pacing, but glaring at it with seething rage won't make it any better. I hope you'll enjoy it though!
> 
> Linked universe belongs to JoJo56830!

Lurelin is beautiful. The shimmering shores, the seabirds. 

...

There were so many seagulls.

 

They were on Cape Cresia, in Wild's rural Hyrule. After rumours of a strange portal appearing in Lurelin reached the group of heroes, they quickly made their way to the small fishing village to investigate the claim.  
Getting there wasn't much of a problem. They had to clear a small bokoblin camp on the way, but it was a quick job, and they came out unscathed.

And sure enough, the dark portal swirled at the Cape's edge, making Legend unusually nervous.

He eyed the swirling portal in front of him warily.  
It looks exactly like all the other portals they had hopped through before, but he can't help the ominous feeling he gets from this one.

_Something's wrong with it. He could feel it._

"What are we waiting for?! Come on guys, let's check it out!" Wind beamed excitedly. Lurelin has got him a bit homesick, and he's jumping at the thought of showing the group his Hyrule next.

Time nodded at Wind, but then turned to Wild, who's looking out towards the village with a pensive expression. "Looks like this will be our last stop... You got any unfinished business to attend to before we go?" Wild took a moment more, then shook his head, facing the older man, "No, I think I'm good. We've stocked up earlier, and... Zelda should be fine with the sheikah tribe for some time," he nods reassuringly, "We can move out."

Time nods in return as Wind broke into a cheer. A few of the other links smiled, the lad's enthusiasm is truly contagious.

"Alright, we're heading out, everyone!"

The portal was only big enough to fit one person at a time, and so the Links filed into a vaguely-shaped line, with Time and Wind at the front.

Legend hovers at the back of the group, still a bit distrustful of the portal. He hasn't said anything, because there was nothing to indicate the portal was anything but another doorway.

There is absolutely no reason to feel like this.

_'Come on, get a hold of yourself! It's just another door.'_

_Just another door to another world. ___

__The others chatted among themselves, most likely about what their next stop will be. As Time disapeared into the portal, Wind hurriedly pulls Four along and ran through its inky surface, still laughing. Warrior shoulder checks Legend on the way out with an annoying smirk._ _

___"Hey! Prick..."_  
...  
It was just him left. 

__He sighs, better get this over with.  
Truthfully, he was also pretty curious about where they're gonna end up next. As he pass through the portal, he noted that nothing was amiss. It's just a regular door after all, and he feels silly for getting so-_ _

___"-Is that a giant egg?!"_ _ _

__Legend stopped dead in his tracks._ _

__All function geared towards processing Wind's voice. He almost didn't want to look up.  
A freezing chill went down his spine, like a spray of seawater in a storm._ _

__"Does anyone know where we are?" Time asked the others, gaze turning to meet an array of distracted "nope"s and head shakes. He scanned the group as they milled about, and located Legend, still at the foot of the portal. The young man whispered something, wide eyes transfixed on the dotted egg atop the mountain. He backed away. Once. Twice._ _

__Time scrunched his eyebrows, concerned. "Legend?" he asks. Legend flinched at the sound of his nickname, and his eyes briefly flickered to the group, all of them now watching him, as if he'd just remembered that they were there with him._ _

__"Do you know this place?" Sky asks carefully, holding his hands out in a placating gesture._ _

__"N-no I-" The mountain looms over him. He stammers, "N- I mean yes, I do, but-"_ _

__"Is this your Hyrule?" Wind asks, tone curious, but slightly hesitant._ _

__" _No!_ No it's-" He turns to face the others, at their concerned expressions. And he feels a buried shame, for what he did to this _island_. Then, anger, but at what, he doesn't know._ _

__The _cursed_ egg sits there, innocent._ _

__"It's not _possible!_ That's what it is!" He burst out, eyes frantically switching from the trees, to the sand, to the egg. "That- that _egg_ , This _damned-_ this _island!_ " He flinched away when Warrior tried to step closer. " _None_ of this is-"_ _

__Time swiftly moved forward and gripped Legend's shoulder. "Hey! Legend, hey, it's alright. We're alright." Time shifted so Legend's gaze levels with his own, "Calm down. Focus on the _now._ Where are we _supposed_ to be?" He tries his best to convey calm through his one good eye, but his voice remains firm, imploring Legend to take his eyes off the mountain._ _

__Legend takes a breath then, and falls silent for a moment. He shifted his eyes to a particular spot on the sand. "Koholint," he mumbles._ _

__"Somewhere I thought I'd never see again."_ _

__-_ _

__The group marched on in silence after that, with Legend taking the lead. He didn't tell the others why the island got such a strong reaction out of him, didn't even say anything else about this place they landed in. But they weren't going to pry._ _

__They all have their own demons, after all. Maybe Legend's take the shape of an egg sitting on a mountaintop._ _

__After walking for a while, they found that the island was completely deserted. The village was empty. The forests, the beaches. Nothing but empty buildings and vegetation._ _

___This place is supposed to be lush, full of life._  
This is all so _wrong._  
Was this his doing? 

__Wind bounds up to Legend, to ask him what everyone else wanted to know. "Has it... Has the island always been this empty?"_ _

__"No. No it wasn't."_ _

__The boy looks away at the clipped tone, opting to observe their surroundings once more. After a few more minutes of silence, something caught his eye._ _

__"Hey, I think I see a light over there!"  
All eyes turned to the direction Wind was pointing, and sure enough, there was a flame in the woods._ _

__The first sign of life on the island._ _

__Legend sprang to action immediately, running, treading the foliage to get to the fire's source. The rest rushed to catch up with him._ _

__"Legend, hey! Slow down! It could be a trap!"  
_No, he has to know, has to see what became of them-__ _

__**"Legend!"** _ _

__The light was a torch, held up by a portly man facing away from him._ _

__"...Tarin?"_ _

__The man didn't respond._ _

__"Tarin! It's me, L-"_ _

__The man turned around.  
_Oh gods._ There were nothing in those eyes._ _

__Legend stumbled back, looking behind him for his group-_ _

__They were gone._ _

__"Uh, guys?!"_ _

__More figures emerge from the surrounding woods._ _

__"Guys, we might be in trouble. _Hey!_ "  
No one answered him._ _

__He turned back around, to see the Island's natives.  
They were all there. The shopkeepers, Granny Ulrira, Christine, the fishermen, the quadruplets and their mother._ _

__And their eyes looked so *empty.*_ _

__Even that pesky Bow Wow creature is eerily silent._ _

__Legend swallowed a lump in his throat, "W-What happened to you all?"_ _

__A great shudder went through the island, rippling out into the sea, and a thunderous **crack** sounded as a large fissure appeared on the egg's shell._ _

__They turned to him all at once, empty eyes peering into his soul._ _

__**"you did this. You did this to us."** _ _

__**_CRACK_ ** _ _

__Legend froze, but then quickly gathered himself to scowl in defiance, "No. _No,_ this is not real, you can't-"_ _

__**"You left us all to oblivion."** _ _

__He falters, tries to regain his ground, "No! No I... I didn't mean to..."  
It's everything he tries not to think about, for years,_ _

__**_CRACK_ ** _ _

__The people moved forward, circling him._ _

__**"You knew. You knew what would happen, and yet you still woke the windfish."** _ _

__"I _had_ to! I had to do it!" He reached out as if to placate them. "I had to do it so the monsters-"_ _

__A big roar of laughter shook the sky, coming from all directions at once. Legend curls back under its force._ _

__**"You did it so you could get _home!_ "** the villagers continued, **"And what good is ridding the island of monsters if you rid the island with them, you foolish child?"**_ _

__Legend didn't say anything in reply, because he knew they were right._ _

__**_CRACK_ ** _ _

__He knew he deserved it, whatever it is that's happening to him, after what he did to them._ _

__**_CRACK_ ** _ _

__The egg is almost split down the middle, now._ _

__"Link..."_ _

__Legend flinched at the voice. He desperately told himself to not look back._ _

__"Link... Is that you?"_ _

__Don't look back, she won't be there when you turn around, _don't look back,__ _

__"So you really left us... You had a choice..."_ _

__Legend said nothing. this is **not** Marin. She wouldn't say something like that, she wouldn't,_ _

__"Why did you leave us?"_ _

__He tries to stay composed in the face of whatever _wretched_ thing is causing this, but it's difficult, so difficult, with the villagers' blank stares boring into him from all sides, with all the eyes in the trees and on the hills,_ _

__Marin steps in front of him, and he didn't look away. He couldn't look away._ _

__She had tears in her eyes. But her eyes were _dead_ , like everyone else on the island._ _

___"Why did you leave me here to die?"_ _ _

__Legend wanted to scream._ _

__**_KRSH!_ ** _ _

__The egg falls apart completely, its shell raining down on the island as a void formed at the egg's core. And it consumed, consumed everything on the island, casting it all to oblivion._ _

__**_"You did this to them,"_** A voice sneered at him._ _

__Link felt helpless as everything crumbles away for a second time._ _

__**"Legend!"** _ _

__The ground beneath his feet gave a mighty rumble, then fell away into a void of black, swallowing him._ _

__**_"LEGEND!"_ ** _ _

__He inhales sharply, eyes flying open and just as quickly shutting back down as the bright colors of the sky disoriented him. He gave a pathetic cry as he curled on the ground, shielding his eyes. He could hear a faint laughter at the back of his mind, echoing as if underwater._ _

__Wind was the first to reach him. He skid on the sand and landed next to his prone form, " _Legend!_ Legend, are you alright?!" Legend gave a quick cough and dismissed the hand Wind offered to pull him up, muttering a weak "I'm fine" as he pushed himself off the ground._ _

__The others crowded him, some of them asking questions, but he just stared blankly at the sand, reeling in what had just happened to him._ _

__Then he looks away, to the horizon._ _

__They're back in Wild's Lurelin, on Cape Cresia, where the portal was supposed to be._ _

__The waves roll calmly to shore, as seabirds call overhead._ _

__The setting sun was beautiful._ _

___He never wanted to see this place ever again._ _ _

__

__Legend rested a hand over his eyes and sat back againts a palm tree. "...What happened?"_ _

__After a moment of hesitation, Sky answered first. "We were... going to ask the same thing to you, really..." he admitted, his gesture suggesting he wasn't sure what on earth just happened himself._ _

__Legend was having none of it. _"What happened?"_ he demanded, eyes still hidden from view. Four spoke up then, "Honestly, we're not sure. After those people appeared, you acted like we're not even there! You couldn't hear us, and when we tried to reach you we just phase through like thin air!" he waved his arm about as if to illustrate his point._ _

__Time came back after inspecting the area around them. "The portal is gone, too," he grimaced, "It must have been some kind of trap..."_ _

__"I gathered that much," Legend sighed, and then lifted his face from his hands. If his eyes glistened in the sunset's waning light, nobody commented on it.  
They knew he wasn't alright, but he wouldn't appreciate them pointing it out in the slightest._ _

__"How much did you see?"_ _

__The others perked up at the question, some with confusion, others with hesitance._ _

__Hyrule jumped the shark, "What do you mean-" "I meant how much of that illusion did you see? What did you hear?" Legend was facing them completely now, still sitting on the sand, but with his arms crossed and expression guarded._ _

__"I- I think we heard everything," Wild softly admitted, "You just couldn't see us, and we were-" he blew a frustrated sigh through his teeth and rubbed the back of his head. "It's my fault, I should've known the next portal wouldn't be somewhere as inexplicable as Lurelin!"_ _

__Legend waved a hand to stop Wild's train of thought, though he also silently wished they had suspected the oddity sooner, "No, don't even start. It's not your fault. We all knew it was odd, and we went in anyways."_ _

__Legend then got up, brushing his tunic off as he talks, as casually as he could, "All the other portals have been somewhere historical, after all. And we've burned daylight chasing some dumb mirage. Let's just go and find somewhere to set up camp."_ _

___'Anywhere but here'_ was left unsaid._ _

__He tried to turn away, but the others weren't moving._ _

___'Please don't ask me about them.'_ _ _

__They were staring at him with apprehension._ _

___'Please don't ask me to explain,'_ he silently pleaded.  
But outwardly, he stared right back at them, arms still crossed with a hard glare._ _

__"...What happened on koholint?"  
_What did you do?__ _

__Fists clenched, he turned away from them and started walking, no destination in mind other than further away from the burgundy shore._ _

__"...For all the good that I did, I might as well had killed them all myself."_ _

__And Legend thought to himself, illusion be damned, what they said was true. Every word of it._ _

__He did this to them._ _

**Author's Note:**

> _Title adapted from the Link's Awakening soundtrack of the same name._
> 
> Editing in all the html was a chore, not gonna lie. I actually scoped out Cape Cresia for this lmao, that beach is gorgeous! And sure enough, there's a giant flock of seagulls. I mean, that's _literally perfect._ Hence my choice.


End file.
